Everything about Watercolors, artists and artwork

A guide on how to select paper for watercolor painting

We’ll analyze just artistic or professional paper, as this is the paper to use in order to obtain the best results.

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Paper surface

There are ususlly 3 different surfaces available

Rough

Cold- pressed

Hot-pressed

Rough paper has the most visible texture on the paper surface, and it is the most used kind of paper by professional artists in conjunction with cold-pressed. Textures by using dry brushstrokes and other techniques as well as the need to get graining in the painting are simpler to obtain in this paper.

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Cold-pressed paper (also known as “Not”) has a medium rough texture, maybe it’s in the middle of Rough and Hot Pressed

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Hot-pressed is comparing the three, the one who has a smooth and ninely grained surface. It can be more suitable for paintings needing even washes of color.

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Weight of paper is another very important characteristic of paper, and this will be the topic in our Part III